The original book from author Anna-Leena Härkönen is very popular in Finnish secondary and high schools, but lead actress Outi Alanen skipped reading it during her own high school days.
Outi Alanen disliked when her character needed to wear a short skirt and corset just to please Allu (played by Santeri Kinnunen). In real life at that time Alanen was a bit of a tomboy since she didn't use make-up and she played ice hockey and soccer.
In the book, Allu is from Vaasa, but in the miniseries, he is from Turku.